You can buy cheese in bulk and find no shortage of ways to enjoy it. But can you freeze cheese to make it last longer? Dairy products are notoriously fussy when it comes to freezing. After all, it doesn’can you freeze cream cheese last forever in the refrigerator.
The general rule of thumb is that freezing cheese will likely change its texture. If you do opt to freeze extra cheese, its best use after thawing is for cooking—the texture change becomes a moot point after it’s all melted. You probably don’t want to freeze the fancy stuff you bought for snacking on with homemade crackers, though. Blocks of mozzarella or shredded mozzarella are fine to freeze, though they tend to have a crumbly texture after freezing. Just avoid freezing fresh mozzarella, as its high water content has a likelihood of forming ice crystals. Cottage cheese, along with ricotta cheese, can be frozen. However, upon thawing, both cheeses are likely to have a grainier texture.
As with most frozen cheeses, thawed cottage and ricotta cheeses are best used in baked or cooked recipes. Try using the extras in a ricotta cheese recipe instead. For prepackaged sliced cheese, just pop the package into a freezer bag and place it in the freezer. For deli-sliced cheese, place a piece of parchment paper in between each slice of cheese.
